First off, welcome to our little community of like minded rabid idiots!
The good news is that we can CERTAINLY help you spend your money, without a problem! The bad news is that it takes cubic money to mod up the S197 chassis... Honestly, the stock suspension isn't bad, BUT there are lots of places to make improvements, it just all costs money. Personally, I would approach it in a sequence: Tires and brakes, dampers/springs, swaybars, and then hardware. For tires, if you're comfortable on R-compounds, then go that route, otherwise, look for something like a Dunlop Star Spec, and 275/35-18 seems to be the popular choice. For brakes, the stock setup works surprisingly well with good pads, just make sure you add ducts to the front, and run an aggressive pad, like a Hawk DTC or Carbotech XP12, with the rear compound stepped down one notch. That, right there, will get you started.
After that, dampers and springs. Think hard about where you want to go, since it's VERY easy to spend money over and over again on these for incremental gains. I would posit that the best bet is to bite the bullet and go straight for coilovers. Grond-Control (Koni) and KW V3 for the low end, and KW Clubsport, Tein, or AST at the high end. For whatever reason, these cars tend to like softer spring rates, in the 350/300 -ish range.
For bars, there's only one choice in my book: Stranoparts. They're the only one (AFAIK) making adjustable rears, and if you're serious about suspension tuning, that's something you'll want.
Last, you can go absolutely ape on the assorted hardware. The rear control arms are the weakest bit on the car, but you'll want to avoid poly bushings for hardcore use, since the deflection on roll will tear them up, sooner rather than later. Think rod ends. After that, it's just bushings, possibly ball joints (Steeda X5 if you wind up slammed, requires a bump-steer kit as well), and that's really about it.
Each step, however, is at least a couple thousand, so.... Oh, last warning: Consumables expense compared to the Focus will be HUGE. Brakes are more expensive, and don't last, ditto with the tires.
Hope that helps!
